Counting is under way in the 107 councils in England that held elections on Thursday, with the first results declared overnight and more to come later on Friday.

Early results for the police & crime commissioner elections across England and Wales have also been declared, while results are due on Friday afternoon for the mayors in the East Midlands, North East, Tees Valley and York & North Yorkshire.

Here are some of the key results so far:

– Hartlepool

Three years ago Labour lost the Hartlepool parliamentary by-election to the Conservatives – an event that reportedly led Sir Keir Starmer to consider resigning as party leader.

This year Hartlepool gave Labour cause for celebration, with the party winning control of the council for the first time since 2019 thanks to a net gain of seven seats, while the Tories lost six.

– Harlow

Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner toured the Essex town of Harlow 24 hours before the polls opened, in a symbolic visit to a part of the country that will be a key battleground at the general election.

But while Labour did make progress in Harlow in Thursday’s council elections, it fell short of an overall majority by the narrowest of margins, ending up with 16 seats, just one behind the Tories on 17.

– Rushmoor

There was better news for Labour deep in the so-called “blue wall” of the traditional Conservative heartland of Hampshire.

The party gained seven seats and a majority on Rushmoor council, an area that includes the army town of Aldershot, while the Tories lost eight seats and overall control.

– Redditch

Labour will be pleased with its performance in the Worcestershire council of Redditch – another important battleground at the general election – where the party picked up nine seats and overall control, while the Conservatives saw their tally drop by 11.

(PA Graphics)

– South Tyneside

It was a less cheery picture for Labour in South Tyneside, where the party suffered a net loss of 10 seats.

Independent candidates gained nine seats and the Greens gained two, while the Tories lost their only councillor.

Labour still has a majority here, but only just: the new council will have 28 Labour councillors, 15 Independents and 11 Greens.

– Sunderland

The Reform Party had a full or near-full slate of candidates in only a handful of councils holding elections this year and Sunderland was one of a few places where it fought every seat.

While the party did not win any of them, it did beat the Conservatives into third place in 16 of the 25 seats up for grabs while Labour made a net gain of six to increase its comfortable majority.

– Thurrock

This Essex council was another one of Labour’s top targets in a key Conservative-Labour election battleground.

The party needed to gain six seats to take control of Thurrock, which has been run by the Tories for the past few years during a period of turbulence that saw the council declared effectively bankrupt in December 2022.

Labour ended up making a net gain of eight seats, enough for a clear majority, with Independents picking up two and the Tories suffering a net loss of 10.

– Police & crime commissioners

Three of the 37 police & crime commissioner results for England and Wales have been declared so far, with Labour gaining Avon & Somerset and Cumbria from the Conservatives, while the Tories have held Lincolnshire.